This invention relates to a reusable handle that may be used in conjunction with various tools or other devices. The device that may be used with the handle may be disposable or may be part of a set of reusable devices particularly adapted for a specific use. This invention is applicable to the medical field, such as surgery, because the handle may be sterilized and is reusable. Even more particularly, this invention is particularly applicable to the field of ophthalmic surgery. This is because a variety of disposable ophthalmic surgical blades having different shapes can be used with the reusable handle.
In various surgical procedures, the physician typically has to make an incision in the patient in order to remove unwanted tissue, repair damaged tissue, or implant a device to improve the patient's well being. In certain cases, all three of these activities or a combination thereof must be done in a single procedure. For example, in cataract surgery, the physician removes the natural lens that has been clouded by a cataract from the patient's eye and replaces it with an artificial lens that will improve the patient's eyesight. In order to perform this procedure, an incision is made in the cornea of the eye by the physician using a scalpel. This provides the physician with access to the patient's lens. The clouded lens is cut loose and removed. There are a number of different procedures that are used to remove a patient's lens that has a cataract. Two of the more common techniques are known as extracapsular surgery and phacoemulsification.
In extracapsular surgery, the physician removes the lens leaving behind the back half of the capsule. In phacoemulsification, the physician fragments the lens by ultrasonic'vibrations. The lens is simultaneously irrigated and aspirated. After the lens is removed, the physician then inserts an artificial lens known as an intra-ocular lens (IOL) into the eye either behind or in front of the iris. Two tiny C-shaped arms connected to the IOL eventually become scarred into the side of the eye and hold the IOL firmly in place.
In another type of ophthalmic procedure known as the Implantable Contact Lens procedure (ICL), the physician makes an incision in the patient's eye and implants a contact lens in the eye in front of the existing lens but behind the iris. This corrects the patient's vision so that he or she can see clearly without the need for external contact lenses or eyeglasses.
Typically a nurse or other surgical assistant manages the devices that are used during surgery. For example, the nurse ensures that the appropriate sterile devices are available in the operating suite for the particular procedure that is to be performed. With respect to scalpels, the nurse often hands the scalpel to the physician in a predetermined orientation so that the physician can grip the scalpel's handle without taking his or her eyes away from the patient. This also minimizes the possibility that the physician will be cut with the blade on the scalpel. After the physician completes the incision the scalpel is handed back to the nurse for proper disposal or sterilization. While the procedure is being performed, this requires the nurse to place the used scalpel on a particular tray that will be removed after the procedure is completed. The devices on the tray are then disposed of or are sterilized for reuse.
If all appropriate protocols are followed, no hospital personnel will be cut by a used scalpel blade. Unfortunately, accidental cuts of hospital personnel do occur. Such accidents may occur for a variety of reasons. For example, because the physician and nurse are concentrating on the patient and the procedure being performed on the patient, they may not pay close attention to the used scalpels. The nurse may put the used scalpels in an inappropriate location or, even if the used scalpels are placed on the proper tray, the blade may be exposed to the operating suite personnel. In these situations, the operating suite personnel may inadvertently come into contact with the blade as they move around the patient during the procedure and be cut or nicked by the exposed blade.
Other hospital personnel may also come into contact with such used blades and be cut or nicked. Usually used blades are disposed of in an appropriate sharps container that allows used needles and blades to be inserted into the container but prevents access by hospital personnel to the sharp end of a needle or the sharp cutting surface of the blade. However, during cleanup of the operating suite, the used blades may be exposed prior to their placement in the appropriate sharps container. And if hospital personnel are not paying close attention to their activities or if the exposed blades are hidden from view because they are buried in a pile of other devices or hospital linen, these hospital personnel may come into contact with the sharp cutting surface of the blade and be cut or nicked.
Cuts and nicks from used blades are uncomfortable and distracting at best. In addition, such cuts and nicks may result in blood or body fluid exposure between the patient and hospital personnel. This may lead to the spread of infectious diseases between the patient and hospital personnel. Concern over this situation has become especially acute in recent years because of such diseases as acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome, i.e. AIDS, and hepatitis. These diseases may be transmitted from an infected person to another person by the transmission of body fluids, typically blood.
In view of the need for a scalpel that can at least minimize the chances of accidental cuts or nicks, numerous scalpels have been designed. These designs typically take the form of a scalpel having a guard that shields the sharp cutting surface of the blade from hospital personnel. The guard in these devices can be moved to a position shielding the blade or exposing the blade for use. Alternatively, the scalpel may be designed to allow the blade to move into or out of the scalpel handle to either shield or expose the sharp cutting surface. Unfortunately, these designs are deficient because they tend to be cumbersome, difficult to use, may cause unwanted shielding or exposure of the blade prior to the need for such shielding or exposure or may require considerable attention by the user to shield or expose the blade. Moreover, such guarded scalpels may provide a false sense of security for hospital personnel. In addition, for reusable devices, even where the guarded surgical scalpel works for its intended purpose, a new blade must be attached to the handle and the used blade must still be removed from the scalpel so a new blade can be attached. This creates an opportunity for hospital personnel to be cut by the used blade while it is being removed from the handle or during transport to a sharps container.